Walking a Thorny Path
by StokerPoe19
Summary: Bryce Larkin is an art thief, but unlike his brother Neal Caffery, he isn't ready to hang up his hat yet. But what does the elder twin want after all these years and what does Neal's ex-partner have to do with it? B/N/OFC


__Bryce Larkin is an art thief, but unlike his brother Neal Caffery, he isn't ready to hang up his hat yet. _But what does the elder twin want after all these years?_

Sorry if the chapter sucks.

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><p>Danielle Crawford was a petite woman with brown hair and hazel eyes. But she was also a world class thief, who loved Renaissance art and English literature. Unfortunately, it was her distinct taste that landed her in prison, which was why she was sitting in an interrogation room across from Peter Burke an Neal Caffery, one her her old aquaintences.<p>

"Do you know why you're here, Miss Crawford?" Peter questioned.

"My name is Dany, Agent Burke." she replied before turning to Neal, "Slow memory on this one, eh? I can't_ believe_ he caught you twice."

Neal said nothing. Only rolled his eyes at what was normal behavior for the young girl. At twenty-four, she was cocky and free-spirited, which was one of the reasons they had forked so well in the past.

"_Dany,_" Peter corrected with a groan, "I would appreciate it if you would simply answer my questions."

"And I would love to eat a pieces of cake without worrying its gonna go to my hips." she bit back, "We all have our dreams, Agent; yours are nothing new."

"Okay, how about this; if you don't answer my questions-"

"What? You gonna threaten me? I'm sure your bosses would_ love_ to hear that. And I got friends in high places to tell them."

Peter let out an angry sigh as he tried to keep his composure. Which was all he had been doing for what felt like hours. The girl simply would not budge.

"Peter, let me talk to her." Said agent turned to Neal.

"You think I'm going to leave you alone with her?" he asked, "God only knows what will happen."

"You have a better idea?" Neal asked.

He sighed in defeat. "No funny business." "I'll be right outside."

"Stalker." Dany said.

"I heard that."

"Sorry, Daddy." That caused a slight chuckle from Neal, who recieved a glare from Peter in return before the door shut and he was left alone with his ex-partner.

"So," Dany said playfully, "What's up, Caffery? You their attack dog or just a piece of meat they're throwing my way?"

"Trust me, Dany, I have no ulterior motives."

"And I'm the Pope's daughter." she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "What do you want?"

Neal's eyes made quick contact an held it, knowing that it would be wise to warm her up, so to speak. So he asked her, "What alias did you use this time?"

"Sandy Remmington." she replied.

"_Grease_ and _Remmington Steele_?"

Dany nodded. "Always the smart one."

"At least my aliases aren't bits and pieces of literature and pop culture."

"And history." she added, "Remember Roxie?"

"Roxanne Buonarroti." Neal sighed, "How could I forget?" Roxie had been her alias back in Italy, when they pulled their last heist together. It was one of only three, but it was one of his most memorable.

"Pretending to be a direct descendant of Michelangelo in order to gain access to his last sketches." Dany recalled with a laugh.

Neal shook his head with a grin. "I still can't believe that worked."

"Amazing what a few forged documents and a little Italian blood can do."

"I haven't heard much about you since then." He pointed out.

"There's a lot you don't know, Caffery. Lets keep it that way."

"Fair enough." he said, "But I _do_ need to know what you did to get in here."

Dany's eyes darted around the room as a precaution before she said, "Henry VIII's love letters to Anne Boleyn."

Neal's eyes widened. "That was you?"

"Surprised?" she smirked.

"Pleasantly."

"I stole them - _supposedly_ - " she added so Peter would hear, "A few years ago, back when I was still in England. I think you were doing time by then, right? How did you hear about it?"

Neal simply grinned. "News travels fast in our world, especially when it concerns masterminds."

"I'm flattered." she said, "Anyway, a few weeks ago, some guy contacted me. Said he would give me a couple grand for them." This caught the ex-con's attention. It was unlike her to settle for so little when it came to money. "I was living out of my car in New York City. I needed the money."

"I'm not judging." he assured her, "So that's why you're here?"

She nodded. "Turned out to be a cop." Dany said bitterly, "Dirty one at that. He swore he would keep everything secret. Next day, the Feds are busting out the windows of my car. You know the rest."

"Did you really steal them?"

Dany leaned in and whispered, "A lady doesn't kiss and tell, Caffery."

"Well, lucky for me, you've never been a lady." he whispered back.

"Should I be insulted?"

"I'll leave that up to you."

This made her smile crookedly, which had been one of the habits that got Neal to like her so much. It was a playful grin, which meant she was either on to his game or she was toying with him. He was sure he knew witch. Then she leaned back and said, "No. I didn't steal them. But I was at the Museum that day, visiting an old friend of yours. The same guy who ratted on me."

"Who?" Dany did not say anything. Only slid a small folded piece of paper across the table towards him.

"I'll let the message speak for itself." she said as she watched him open it. His eyes scanned the paper before growing wide. At once he was on his feet and out the door.

Peter jumped when the door almost swung into him. He noticed several emotions in Neal's wild eyes, but they were all so jumbled that he could not identify them. "Neal?"

"I now who stole the letters." He said breathlessly. He handed Peter the paper and he read it. All that was there was a pair of initials.

"BL?" Peter read, "Who's that?"

"Bryce Larkin." Neal replied, almost as if he did not believe it.

"Another on of you alleged partners?" peter assumed, fearing the worst. What if it was someone like Adler or Keller?

"No." Neal replied, "He's my brother."


End file.
